Pakistan?s Top Human Rights Campaigner Says State Wants To Kill Her

Asma Jahangir, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights and pro-democracy activists, claims that the country’s military and intelligence networks are planning to kill her and that she has been forced to undertake extraordinary security precautions.

This is not a threat, she told reporters in Lahore. This is a straightforward plan to kill me.

Jahangir, an attorney, and chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, has long criticized Pakistan’s security apparatus and lamented the lack of democracy and transparency in the country. In recent years, she has accused the military of committing atrocities in Baluchistan province, which is enduring an insurgency.

Her fears may not be overblown -- last year, a journalist named Saleem Shahzad was tortured and murdered after revealing possible links between Pakistan’s intelligence agency and Islamic militants.

A white Fiat van rammed into pedestrians outside enjoying a late afternoon stroll on Las Ramblas in Barcelona on Thursday killing at least 13 people and leaving hundreds injured. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.